Utopias

Utopia: based on Greek: ou ‘not’ + topos ‘place.’

 

The definition of the word utopia is: ‘An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.’ We all dream of the perfect world, but each person has different ideals so our ideas of perfection may all be different. Two examples of fully imagined perfect places are the setting for the novels ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry and ‘Player Piano’ by Kurt Vonnegut.

        

Utopias have been said to be “ … a perfect paradise that doesn’t exist, but which we all dream of anyway.” Based on what our world is now, the only thing we seem to have of for complete and utter peace and idea of perfection are hopes and dreams that we put on paper for the public to read.

‘The Giver’ is a novel about a utopian society that is seemingly perfect for almost everyone. There is no war, no conflict. Everyone is treated equally and the emotions there have been “toned down.” Without extreme emotions like love, jealousy, greed and anger, many conflicts are avoided like divorce and heartbreak. Without love the people of that utopian society have been spared from much emotional pain. There are also no social classes, which avoids a lot of problems. There is no violence because there is no envy, greed, or social classes, which ends up being beneficial to all. The population has also been controlled, which has been the root of many problems we face today like world hunger, overpopulation, and environmental issues like global warming. Children are assigned to a family; they do not stay with their birth mothers.  Matching a child to an ideal family should provide a safe environment for them to live in. In this way, there are no orphans or abused children, not that anyone has any evil incentives.  Also everyone is given the same amenities, for instance, all the children get a bike on a certain birthday so that they can avoid jealousy and envy. The scientists in that world have also changed people’s eyes so that they no longer see color, they can only see in grey, like dogs do, which also prevents problems. This world is a utopia because there is no violence, poverty or hunger. The government and leaders have taken over, but it is better than chaos.

‘Player Piano’ is another novel set in a utopian society. In this novel there is no poverty, hunger or war. The machines have taken over many jobs, performing them more quickly, efficiently and cheaply than humans can, making better quality products and using less money. The more intelligent with better jobs may have more money than others, but there are no homeless and starving on the street. Those who work in the division “Reeks and Wreaks” in the novel have initially the same houses with the same technology and are given sufficient amount of food. Also, because of the improvement in machines, people now have things like dishwashers that can clean things in just seconds. That way people don’t have to worry so much about taking up time with house chores like cooking and cleaning. The government and the intelligent people have taken over and have made America into a utopia.

Both novels are set in a utopian society, but those societies aren’t completely perfect. In ‘The Giver’ the people living in the society live in peace without many of the problems we have today in the real world, but they have lost a lot of freedom in this society. As mentioned, their ability to see color was taken away without their consent. Most of the people living in this utopian society do not even know about color. Another example is feelings: these people do not know true feelings like love. Thus a parent will not really love a child, which is very sad. Also, people are not able to choose their spouses – they are paired up based on things like characteristics and such. That is very unfair. Children will also never know their grandparents because of how the community works. This utopian society also kills the old and the lighter one of a set of twins. From the way this society works, they do not see this killing as anything morally wrong. It’s just a part of the job that they have. The weather is also controlled, so there is no such thing as rain and snow. Without snow, a child loses the chance to experience fun activities like snowball fights, sledding, and ice skating. There will be no precious child memories about Christmas and getting presents.

In the novel ‘Player Piano’ your status and future is all based on how intelligent you are, otherwise you will either have to work in the army or at “Reek and Wrecks.” That isn’t really a utopian society because this isn’t equality, and many people will not be happy with their positions as not everyone is a genius. Also in this world machines have taken over many jobs. Say a child has a dream of being a pilot. What if a machine was created that eliminated the need for a human pilot? That child wouldn’t even have a shot at their dream. People should be able to have the chance to achieve their dream jobs if they can. In the Player Piano society people have to take tests that will determine their future. If a college boy studies as hard as he possibly can, but is not intelligent enough, isn’t that unfair? He’s a good, hardworking young man. Also, what if the tests are wrong? What if a really imaginative kid was taking the test to see how creative he was, bombed that test? Machines may be better than humans in many ways, but they are not perfect. They cannot think for themselves when a problem or something new pops up. Player Piano may be a utopian society, but not everyone living in that community is happy with it.

‘The Giver’ and ‘Player Piano’ are both novels about utopia, and there are other similarities and differences. In both worlds there is no poverty or hunger. Everyone has enough to eat and has good homes to live in. Also both novels mention jobs that are the most desirable or the most honorable. Both novels are narrated by a central male character who eventually comes to see faults in his utopian society. At first they view their world to be perfect, but through a series of events and through influential people in their lives, they see their utopian world in a different light and take action. One difference in the novels is that ‘Player Piano’ is set in an era of technological advances, while ‘The Giver’ isn’t as high-tech. Another difference is that children in ‘The Giver’ are matched up to jobs depending on their personality and where they spent their community hours, while ‘Player Piano’s’ job placement depends on one’s intelligence. Also the people in ‘Player Piano’ can see colors and have memories of the past while people in ‘The Giver’ cannot. In ‘Player Piano’ there is a fine line between the rich and the regular people while in ‘The Giver’, there really aren’t concrete social classes. The Giver also mentions the job of a “Birth Mother” to create new life and control the population, and infants are assigned to a family that applies for a new child, but in ‘Player Piano’, children stay with their birth parents. Also in ‘The Giver’, most of the people living in that utopian society have shallow feelings and only know the life that they have and the jobs that they do, while in ‘Player Piano’ people have real true feelings and try to rebel to achieve a new life. Also, in ‘The Giver’, people are matched up to their spouses based on their personality and character while in ‘Player Piano’, people can choose who they want to be with. All in all, the people in ‘Player Piano’ seem to have more freedom of choice overall than those in ‘The Giver’.

Both novels about utopia display the hopes and ideals for the perfect world. In both novels the characters face confusion and desperation about what is right and wrong, but eventually find their way to their true beliefs in the end. Another similarity in these two works of literature is the main character finding something wrong with their seemingly perfect world. What seems to be real gold may actually be gilded wood that burns quickly and easily in the fire.